THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK. 25 



effected with, nmcli less of physical effort than at any former 

 period ; and therefore a general and arbitrary reduction of the 

 hours of labor, independent of what has already occurred and is 

 further likely to occur through the quiet influence of natural 

 agencies, is not only justifiable, but every way practicable. 

 This would undoubtedly be true if mankind were content to live 

 as their fathers did. But they are not so content. They want 

 more, and this want is so progressive, that the satisfactions of to- 

 day almost cease to be satisfactions on the morrow. But what 

 " more " of abundance, comfort, and even luxury to the masses 

 has been achieved — and its aggregate has not been small — has 

 not been brought about by any diminution of labor, but has 

 been due mainly to the fact that the labor set free by the utili- 

 zation of natural forces has been re-employed, as it were, to pro- 

 duce them ; or, in other words, recent material progress is more 

 correctly defined by saying, that it consists in the attainment of 

 greater results with a given expenditure of labor, rather than 

 the attainment of former results with a diminished expenditure. 

 Whether the present relation of production to consumption 

 which it now seems necessary should be maintained, if the 

 present status of abundance, wages, and prices is to be con- 

 tinued and further progress made, can be maintained with a 

 diminished amount of labor, may not at present admit of a sat- 

 isfactory answer. Production in excess of current demand, or 

 overproduction, which has been and still is a feature of certain 

 departments of industry, and which may seem to favor an affirm- 

 ative answer, is certain to be a temporary factor, for nothing 

 will long continue to be produced unless there is a demand for 

 it at remunerative prices from those possessed of means to pur- 

 chase and consume, and therefore can not be legitimately taken 

 into account in forming an opinion on this subject ; but, other 

 than this, all available evidence indicates that the answer must 

 be still in the negative. Thus, for example, the. latest results of 

 investigation by the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics 

 show that during the year 1885 all the products of manufacture 

 in that State could have been secured by steady work for 307 

 working days of 9 "04 hours each, if this steady work could have 

 been distributed equally among all the persons engaged in 

 manufactures. But, to effect such an equitable distribution is at 

 present almost impossible ; and if it could be brought about, a 

 reduction of the hours of labor to eight per day in such indus- 

 tries, as has been advocated by many, would reduce the pres- 

 ent annual product of Massachusetts to the extent of more than 

 one ninth. Apart, therefore, from the disastrous competition 

 which, would be invited from other States and countries where 

 labor was more productive, to expect that under such a reduc- 



